This thread is sort of heading in a useful direction in that it may
provide some insight into a purchase choice for someone that is
looking at changing wheels.
What I've found with a set of very used wire wheels is that they can
take a lot of punishment, BUT they require a lot of maintenance if
used on a daily driver. I am lucky to have an excellent tire shop 20
minutes down the road. After they've done a full balance on my wire
wheels, the ride is silky smooth. It's truly amazing. BUT, this lasts
about a month. Then, it's back to speed-dependent vibrations and
general sloppiness in steering _feel_ (remember, for our cars, any
little additional clearance in the overall steering/suspension is
easily felt - OK, I'm anal). Plus, at this point, the splines are
somewhat worn and I find myself frequently tightening the knock-ons
(BTW, I use a regular old lead mallet). I have no doubt that much of
the frequent maintenance is due to the age and mileage on the wheels.
I now find that many of the spokes are loose and a few are broken.
I've looked into the cost of rebuilding (even if I do it myself, as I
have on the spare wheel) and into the cost of new, and also at the
number of times I've visited the tire shop for balancing, and it all
adds up to going with steel wheels.
Remember, this is on a used set of unknown mileage. I suspect that a
new set of wires will give little grief, though I also suspect that
daily city driving (i.e., pothole-finding) will give you a chance to
learn all about the personal life of your local tire man. If you can
find one that will work on wire wheels. There is exactly one in the
entire metro Atlanta area (4+ million people).
No doubt I'll be crying about cracks in my steel wheels in the coming months...
:)
_____________________________________________________________
Jeffrey H. Boatright, PhD
Assistant Professor, Emory Eye Center, Atlanta, GA, USA
Senior Editor, Molecular Vision, http://www.molvis.org/molvis
mailto:jboatri@emory.edu
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